


conclusively

by nobrainjustchiakienstar



Series: a thousand autumn stars [3]
Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: For Science!, Kissing, M/M, Sexuality Crisis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:10:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26330128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nobrainjustchiakienstar/pseuds/nobrainjustchiakienstar
Summary: "Um… so Senacchi is uh… he likes guys, yaknow?"And water is wet, Chiaki thinks. "Yeah? That can't be your whole crisis.""Okay, so I asked Senacchi how he, yaknow, knew but he said he 'just knew' and that got me thinking and…" Kaoru stops for breath. He looks like he's on the verge of panicking but presses on, "So I asked him if he's ever kissed a girl and he made this disgusted face and was all 'yeah, unfortunately'!"☆Kaoru is having a crisis and asks Chiaki for help. Scientifically and for research, of course.
Relationships: Hakaze Kaoru/Morisawa Chiaki
Series: a thousand autumn stars [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1905991
Comments: 9
Kudos: 89





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**Author's Note:**

> i've given up on going daily lmao i write too much and too slow for that but here's part 3 of my chiaki month! i'll keep going until i finish all 18 though dw ☆

It’s already strange seeing Kaoru hanging around at school so late, but it’s even stranger for him to grab Chiaki by the arm as he’s leaving for the evening and drag him back to their empty classroom.

Kaoru slides the door shut behind them and does a quick scan of the room to make sure no one left anything they’d need to come back for before sighing, “Moricchi, I need your help."

It’s not much of an explanation for being dragged into a closed classroom, but Chiaki doesn’t tend to ask people why they need  _ his _ help anyway, but rather: “What do you need me to do, Hakaze?”

Kaoru trips on his own feet as they cross the classroom, struggling to keep his composure and Chiaki  _ knows _ Kaoru is embarrassed by whatever his problem is. Kaoru perches on top of his own desk, trying to look casual, but Chiaki can tell by the way he avoids eye contact that he’s far from relaxed.

“You can tell me anything, Hakaze,” he offers, “You asked for my help so I’ll do my best to help you with whatever you need!”

“Ah, well,” Kaoru shifts, crossing and uncrossing his legs, “I already asked Senacchi and he just said I’m ‘soooo annoying’ for asking--”

“What is it?” Chiaki can’t help but feel a little dejected hearing that he wasn’t Kaoru’s first choice for assistance.

Kaoru fidgets and chews his lip before letting out a defeated sigh. Chiaki’s too determined to help now, he won’t just accept a lie at this point. “Well… I’ve been having a crisis lately?”

Chiaki takes a step closer into Kaoru’s personal space; he doesn’t miss Kaoru’s hands gripping the edge of the desk. “A crisis sounds really serious! Is it school stuff? Oh, or your fami--”

“No! Ugh,” Kaoru cuts him off, “don’t laugh.”

“I’d never laugh at a crisis!”

Kaoru sighs again and puts his head in his hands for a long second before he mumbles, “I guess I have to explain why I asked Senacchi first then.”

“If you want to. No pressure, Hakaze!” Chiaki reaches out to pat Kaoru’s shoulder, but Kaoru immediately tenses again. He pulls his hand away, stuffing both in his pockets.

“Nono, it’s important, I guess,” another deep sigh, "Um… so Senacchi is uh… he likes guys, yaknow?"

_ And water is wet _ , Chiaki thinks. "Yeah? That can't be your whole crisis."

"Okay, so I asked Senacchi how he, yaknow,  _ knew _ but he said he 'just knew' and that got  _ me  _ thinking and…" Kaoru stops for breath. He looks like he's on the verge of panicking but presses on, "So I asked him if he's ever kissed a girl and he made this disgusted face and was all 'yeah, unfortunately'! But when I asked him if he would--"

Cutting himself off to bury his face in his palms again, Kaoru lets out a long groan.

"Take your time," Chiaki says, wanting to reach out and pat Kaoru on the back to comfort him so badly, but fighting against the urge because Kaoru looks like he'll get up and jump out the window to flee if he gets any more flustered. He grips the lining inside his pockets.

Kaoru doesn't uncover his face when he continues, muffling his voice. "I asked him if he would k-- if he would kiss me to see if I hated it the same way he hated kissing girls, but he stormed off after saying I'm sooo annoying."

Chiaki does his best not to laugh when he pictures the scene; Kaoru is obviously pretty worked up over this. "So…" he asks slowly, "why do you want to find out?"

Kaoru visibly relaxes when he realizes Chiaki isn't going to make fun of him or run off like Izumi had. He sighs again before explaining, "Well, Senacchi was all 'ew gross' about girls but at least he  _ tried _ , yaknow? And I got to thinking, because I'm all 'ew men' all the time but I've never  _ tried _ ki-- anything with a guy, so how can I know?"

Chiaki nods. "So you asked Sena to kiss you so you could say you tried? So scientific, Hakaze."

"If I didn't know you well enough I would think you're being sarcastic right now."

"I promise I'm not!" Chiaki notes that Kaoru has relaxed a lot, as if just saying what was on his mind lifted a weight off of him. However -- "So… you said you needed my help? Did you just want me to listen?"

Kaoru's face flushes bright red. "Oh uhh, no. I actually was going to ask if you, uh," he tries making eye contact, but quickly looks away, "god, Moricchi, stop staring so intensely, it's making me nervous."

"Ah, sorry," Glancing down, Chiaki notes that he's standing as close as he can to the desk Kaoru is sitting on without bumping up against Kaoru's knees, which his hands are gripping with white knuckles. "Seeing you all embarrassed is just kind of cu--"

"Moricchi!"

Chiaki chuckles; he wasn't lying. "Sorry! How can I help?"

Taking a deep breath to steel himself, Kaoru answers almost too quickly, "I want to kiss you to see if I hate it after all," a pause, and Kaoru glances up to make shy eye contact with Chiaki, "If you're okay with it, that is."

Chiaki probably should have seen this coming, but for some reason it hadn't crossed his mind that Kaoru would want to try with  _ him _ . He must look incredibly shocked, because Kaoru suddenly frowns and crosses his arms.

"You can just say n--"

"I'll do it!" Chiaki interjects with probably a little too much enthusiasm, "I said I'd help you in any way I can and I meant it. We’re good friends and it's just a kiss, right?"

Uncrossing his arms, Kaoru puts his hands on his knees again to lean forward just a little with a determined look on his face, "Yeah, and keep your hands to yourself, having a guy touch me like that is a bit too much."

"Okay, I can do that."

"And close your eyes, it's weird if you're looking at me too hard."

Chiaki shuts his eyes. "O-okay?"

“And it can’t be too long, got it? It’s gotta be short so it’s not wei--”

“Hakaze, just do it.”

The only sound in the room is the creak of the desk as Kaoru shifts his weight to lean down. Chiaki keeps his hands in his pockets and his eyes closed, but tilts his chin upward so Kaoru doesn’t have to bend too far, since being perched on his desk means their height difference is just a little more exaggerated than the usual few centimeters. Kaoru’s breath tickles his face just briefly before their lips meet and it’s--

Well, it’s just shy of nothing; Chiaki barely feels the contact at all and Kaoru backs away like he’d been burned. Opening his eyes, Chiaki finds Kaoru with his head in his hands again.

“Hakaze, is that how you kiss girls?”

Kaoru looks up, a confused expression on his face. “No? But you’re not a girl?”

Chiaki plants both of his hands on the desk, one on either side of Kaoru’s legs, determined to help Kaoru get some conclusive results from his experiment. “You have to take this seriously if you’re trying to compare them fairly!”

“Have you ever even kissed anyone before, Moricchi?”

“Nope!”

“Then how would you know if I’m ‘taking it seriously’ or not?” Kaoru pauses, “Wait, hold on!  _ That _ was your  _ first _ ? Moricchi, why didn’t you say anything sooner? That one  _ sucked _ !”

Chiaki tries not to take that last bit too seriously, but Kaoru’s hands are gripping his shoulders now and he can’t help but consider that progress. “Your words, not mine,” he teases.

“Crap,” Kaoru chews his lip, “I should probably make it up to you or something? I’m so sorry.”

“Just take this seriously and get the answer you need and I’ll be happy, I swear.” With a reassuring smile, Chiaki continues, “Even if you think it’s totally gross afterward, just kiss me once like you’d kiss a girl so I can help you with your crisis at least.”

The hands on his shoulders tighten just slightly. “When you say things like that-- nevermind.”

A hand tilts his chin and Kaoru presses his lips to Chiaki’s, much firmer this time and longer than the last but still somewhat hastily -- he pulls away again before Chiaki can figure out how to respond.

“I wasn’t ready.”

Kaoru licks his lips, a movement that Chiaki doesn’t miss. “One more try? Then we gotta stop, one time was already kind of… yaknow.”

With a quick nod, Chiaki leans in to meet Kaoru in the middle, and Kaoru in turn pulls him half a step closer to stand between his knees. This kiss is a lot more than the last, with Kaoru coaxing Chiaki to move his lips in tandem with his own, running a hand through soft brown hair to subtly tilt Chiaki's head for a better angle. Chiaki, unsure of what to do with his own hands, defaults to a hug, pulling Kaoru's body closer to his own and it makes everything feel like so much  _ more _ but he can't describe why -- he just doesn't want to let go, doesn't want to part for air, doesn't want to just laugh this off and call it an experiment.

If the feeling of Kaoru's legs wrapping around his hips and holding him in place as a little sound escapes his throat is any indicator, Kaoru feels the same.

In reality, it doesn't even last a minute, but when they pull away for air it feels like so much more time has passed. Breathing heavily, Kaoru rests his forehead against Chiaki's, his hazel-grey eyes searching Chiaki's face for anything wrong. All Chiaki can focus on is how pink and glossy Kaoru's lips are.

"One more, maybe? To be sure?" Kaoru asks as he brushes a lock of hair behind Chiaki's ear.

"One more."

**Author's Note:**

> "it's not gay if we're not gay, right?" kaoru says gayly while kissing his also-gay friend
> 
> anyway next is rei! ☆
> 
> [my twitter](https://twitter.com/shiinyniki)


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